My Hero Romance: Chapter Seventeen
{| Chapter Seventeen "You've been hiding this from me all this time? Why?" He stared down at his glass of wine with disdain before pushing it asides to look at her. "Why did you keep this from me?" Katsuko looked down, taking a sip of a beverage she wanted to escape. "I didn't want you to know because I didn't want you to think of me differently. I thought that if I kept it hidden, put on a mask or something, I could get away with you not knowing. I kept it hidden when I was being controlled by my dad, but now, I don't know what I'm doing anymore." "You mean to tell me that all this time, you were suffering from depression?" He raised an eyebrow, upset by the information Katsuko had chosen to hide from him. "I could've helped you, Katsuko. I...I still want to help. I've seen you suffer long enough, I'm tired of being helpless so from here on out, I want you to tell me everything. It's not right to suffer alone." "It's also not right to pull you down with me, Toshinori." She shook her head and laid her head on the counter. "I admire your constant need to help people, even me, but I think you should know when to give up. If you keep helping me, I'll love you even more and that's unfair to you so don't. Don't help me." "Don't expect me to not help you, you need to be helped and you need it more than anyone else." He shook his head and took the glass of wine from her, dumping it in the sink before dumping his. "I care for you, Katsuko. I really do, but I can't care for you if you don't care for yourself." "What's the point?" She asked, looking up at him with soft eyes. "This will just repeat itself, over and over again." Toshinori grabbed her hand and gave her a thumbs up. "You can fight through this, Katsuko. I know you can, but don't give up. There isn't a lot I can do for you other than being there, but I do know that I want you to fight. Heroes always fight." Katsuko reached out, hugging him. "I'm scared, Toshi, what if I can't do it? What if I can't fight anymore? What if-" "I hear a lot of what if's from you. I know you can do it, I know you can fight it. You're a hero and dammit a fine one at that!" He returned the hug, sighing softly. "Besides, I think you should try and think about happy things. I'm not very good at helping people with depression, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask, alright?" She kept her arms wrapped around his waist, her forehead resting against his chest. "You being here is enough. It tells me that I'm enough." She murmured, gripping his shirt tightly until her knuckles turned white. His eyes widened before they softened. "You know, I think Beanie's getting a little jealous. She's radiating with hatred, that, or she wants food." When Katsuko laughed at that, he knew he had done good. For the next half-hour, they played and loved on Beanie and the several kittens. After that, they played a game of Uno before decided the plans for the rest of the night. "It's getting really late and I don't want to send you off into the night," Katsuko murmured, removing her legs from his lap. "You can take the bed and I can take the couch, alright? Ah, no arguments and no buts! Haha, butts." Toshinori was half ready to protest against that, saying she should take the bed and he the couch. He found her humor strange, but adorable. "I really do take the bed. I'm the guest here, I should stay on the couch." He shook his head quickly. "I'll be fine." "You're really tall so I hardly doubt that." She rolled her eyes. "Let's both share the bed, okay? We can use a pillow wall or something to keep both our sides separate. It won't be that bad. I've seen it in movies and such." His face turned red. "I...I don't..." "Okay, great! I have some spare clothing left behind from my ex boyfriend. He was about as tall as you so I'm sure they'll fit. They're a bit baggy though.." She murmured, tilting her head. Toshinori just nodded his head, not wanting to barge into a life he figured she didn't want to talk about. He wasn't too keen on her idea of sleeping together in the same bed, but it seemed neither of them wanted to budge. How cliche. The clothes were baggy when he tried them on, but he was used to that when changed from All Might to his true form. He wasn't at all bothered by her kitty pajamas, having felt that this was coming. She was already in bed with a small plush of a hero clutched against her chest. She was on the left side of the bed, pressed up against the wall. There was a few pillows separating both sides of the bed. He took note on how he was sleeping at the edge of the bed, the side facing the bedroom door. He blamed it on fear of being attacked or something. Katsuko shifted when he slid under the covers. "Thank you for being my friend, Toshinori. I'm glad I met you." She yawned, stretching with a groan before turning around to snuggle into her pillow. "Goodnight, Tosh..i.." He smiled lightly at how cute she sounded and felt his face heat up quickly. "Goodnight, Katsuko." - Katsuko was incredibly warm. Even more so than she usually was in the morning and it surprised her to say the least, but she welcomes the warmth no less. However, it takes her a moment to remember what happened and she froze. He couldn't really still be here, could he? He had places to go that were a lot more important than being here, places like the sports festival that would be starting soon. She couldn't bring herself to disturb his slumber, not for now at least. She sat up, looking at his peaceful expression. It almost felt like he was finally sleeping for the first time in a long time. Katsuko smiled at him before leaning over to peck his cheek. She'd get up and go make breakfast. Only one thing was present in her mind as she cooked the food with a bright red face and that was the fact that she had slept with Toshinori. This would be an awkward morning.